UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

 

School of Information Resources & Library Science

 

 

IRLS 501

 

Knowledge Structures I

 

Summer I -- 2004

 

 

Instructor:  Deborah J. Karpuk

E-mail:  arizonakarpuk@aol.com

 

Office hours:  Following class, E-mail

 

 

WebCT will be used for online lectures and discussion

 

 

Course Objective:

 

This course provides a framework for understanding the organization of information and the implications for knowledge management.  Decisions regarding the organization of materials, access points, vocabulary control, thesauri, and user perspectives will be covered.

 

 

Course Meetings:  

 

IRLS 501 will meet:   June 7th – July 8th

            June 7th:      10:00 a.m. – 5:45 p.m.  (Note start time)

            June 8th:      9:00 a.m. – 5:45 p.m.

            June 9th:      9:00 a.m. – 5:45 p.m.

            June 10th:    9:00 a.m. – 5:45 p.m.

            June 11th:    9:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

 

Classroom:  Steward Observatory, Room 204

 

WebCT Lectures/Discussions:

Weekly WebCT lectures/discussions: 

June 17th, June 24th, July 1st * July 8th

(Thursday evenings, 6:30-8:00 p.m.; WebCT Chat Room)

 

 

 

Course Readings:

 

Textbook:

The course text is available at the University Bookstore.

 

Rowley, Jennifer and John Farrow.  ORGANIZING KNOWLEDGE: AN INTRODUCTION TO MANAGING ACCESS TO INFORMATION.  3rd ed.  (Burlington, Ct.: Gower, 2000)  [Entire text will be read for IRLS 501]

 

 

Additional Readings:

(ELECTRONIC RESERVES)

 

Readings are in alphabetical order under IRLS501.

Note that readings are for on-campus meetings and for online discussions.

Password:  IRLS501 (case sensitive)

 

The instructor will distribute additional readings in class.

 

 

 

Individual Project:

 

The core components of the project included below.  The DRAFT dates provide for beginning each section of the project during the week on campus.

 

Points for each section will be assigned with the FINAL SUBMISSION.

 

This strategy provides the opportunity to begin each area of the project as the topic is being covered in class lecture, simulation exercises and discussion.

 

Application Draft Due Dates and % points:

 

Non-bibliographical organizational problem

20

June 7, 2004

Bibliographic description

10

June 8, 2004

Subject headings, thesauri, indexes

20

June 9, 2004

Classification

10

June 10, 2004

User perspectives and searching

20

June 11, 2004

Final project and debriefing

20

See Below

 

 

PROJECTS WILL BE MAILED TO DR. K’S POST OFFICE BOX.

 

Include sufficient postage for the return of your project.

 

Project is detailed on a separate handout: Individual Project

 

 

Methodology:

 

This course will be conducted through lecture, class discussion, in-class exercises, an individual project, and online discussions.  The instructor retains the option to examine on course content.  Participation is required.

 

 

Grading Scale:

 

A

93+

B

86-92

C

78-85

D

70-77

F

69 AND BELOW

***

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Attendance is required in order to get an “A” in the class.  Classes begin promptly at 9:00 a.m. (except on June 7th, at 10:00 a.m.) and end promptly at 5:45 p.m.  On June 11th, class ends at 5:30 p.m. 

 

Office hours are before class, during lunch hour, and immediately after class. 

 

 

 

Organization of Course Topics:

 

The course is divided into three sections.  Read course materials PRIOR to the class session.  Review the readings, class lecture and simulation exercises and APPLY the information to your individual project.

 

 

Section I:

 

 

 

 

Readings:

 

Borges “The Library of Babel”

 

Rowley pages 3-92

 

Borgman “Access to information”, p. 53-80

 

Svenonius “Information organization”, p. 1-14; “Bibliographic objectives”, p. 15-30

 

Rosenfeld “Organizing information”, p. 22-46

 

Class handouts (examples, exercises, discussion points)

 

 

 

 

 

Section II:

 

 

Readings:

 

Rowley pages 52-271

 

Borgman “Why are digital libraries hard to use”, p. 117-141

 

Winchester “Roget and his brilliant unrivaled, maligh, and detestable thesaurus”, The Atlantic Monthly, May 2001  [Available through WWW, UMI Proquest]

 

Petroski “Order, order”, p. 233-252 in THE BOOK ON THE BOOKSHELF (New York: Knopf, 1999)  [will bring to class]

 

Class handouts (examples, exercises, discussion points)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Section III:

 

 

Readings:

 

Rowley pages 275-391

 

Class handouts (examples, exercises, discussion points)

 

 

Students are invited to bring additional readings and examples from research projects.

 

 

WebCT ONLINE DISCUSSIONS, 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., WebCT Chat

 

Electronic Reserves under:  IRLS 501 section 851

 

June 17th:  Ashley, Blazek (two articles), Bowler, Brown

 

June 25th:  Day (two articles), Herron, Hurt

 

July 1st:  Katz, Lavely, Spanner

 

July 8th:  Stokes (two articles), Tibbo, Seggern

 

 

 

REMEMBER: 

 

Individual Project guidelines are a separate document